Tamper-proof bottle cap



March 14, 1967 J HAlLES TAMPER-PROOF BOTTLE CAP Filed Nov. 22, 1965 INVENTOR NORMAN J. HAILES United States Patent ()filice 3,308,979 Patented Mar. 14, 1967 3,308,979 TAMPER-PROOF BOTTLE CAP Norman J. Haiies, Rivers, Manitoba, Canada Filed Nov. 22, 1965, Ser. No. 516,198 3 Claims. (Cl. 215-9) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in tamper proof caps for bottles, particularly bottles used for medicine and the like in which it is desired to prevent children from removing the caps of the bottles inadvertently.

It is well known that many accidents have occurred by children unscrewing caps from conventional medicine and drug bottles and containers thus obtaining access to the contents thereof.

Attempts have been made to prevent children from manipulating the caps from such bottles but most attempts are involved and are not well suited to mass production of caps and bottles and are therefore relatively expensive.

I have overcome these disadvantages by providing a sleeve around the neck of the bottle which although is rotatable upon the neck of the bottle, nevertheiess it is not possible to move said sleeve en-dwise.

A conventional cap engages with the screw threads of the bottle and the wall of the cap passes between the bottle neck and the sleeve. Threads having different characteristics to those of the cap and neck are provided externally of the cap and internally of the sleeve so that as soon as these threads meet when the cap is being screwed onto the bottle, the cap jams. By alternately rotating the sleeve and the cap, the cap can be screwed onto the neck of the bottle and any attempt to remove the cap by unscrewing, without manipulating the sleeve, results in jamming the cap so that it cannot be removed,

The principal object and essence of the invention is therefore to provide a device of the character herewithin described which although is easily manipulabe to engage and disengage the cap from the bottle, it is nevertheless impossible to remove by merely rotating the cap.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of the character herewithin described which is eminently suitable for production in plastic and adaptable for use over either glass or plastic bottle necks.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a device of the character herewithin described which is simple in construction, economical in manufacture, and otherwise well suited to the purpose for which it is designed.

With the foregoing in view, and all those objects, purposes or advantages which may become apparent from consideration of this disclosure and specification, the present invention consists of the inventive concept embodied in the method, process, construction, arrangement of parts, or new use of the same, as herein particularly exemplified in one or more specific embodiments of such concept, reference being had to the accompanying figures in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of one embodiment of the device showing the cap spaced from the bottle neck and being sectioned to show the interior thereof.

FIGURE 2 is a View similar to FIGURE 1 but showing an alternative embodiment of the invention.

In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures.

Proceeding therefore to describe the invention in detail, reference should first be made to FIGURE 1 which shows the preferred embodiment of the invention.

Reference character 10 illustrates the upper portion of a conventional medicine bottle or the like which may be manufactured from either plastic or glass.

This bottle is provided with a cylindrical neck 11 and an annular rim 12 formed externally of the neck adjacent the base 13 thereof. This rim is conventional and normally is engaged by the lower end of the conventional cap when it is screwed down upon the neck.

The neck 11 is provided with external screw threads 14 which are usually relatively coarse so that the cap can be screwed on and off the bottle rapidly and easily.

My device collectively designated 15 comprises a sleeve 16 and a cap 17. The sleeve is an open ended cylinder preferably made of plastic and is engaged freely over the neck 11 of the bottle and is situated in annular spaced relationship from the neck 11.

An annular head 18 is formed internally of the sleeve 16 adjacent the base thereof and this bead engages the upper surface of the annular rim 12.

The lower side 19 of the sleeve is then turned under the rim 12 as clearly shown in FIGURE 1 to form an annular head 20 engaging the underside of the rim 12. This permits the sleeve to be rotated freely upon the rim 12 but prevents the sleeve from being moved endwise with relation to the bottle neck 11.

The cap 17 is also preferably manufactured from plastic and includes a cylindrical portion 21 and a closure plate 22 secured to the upper end of the cylindrical portion 21.

Screw threads 23 are formed internally around the inner wall 24- of the cylindrical portion 21 of the cap and these screw threads are similar to the screw threads 14 around the neck and engage the threads so that the screw cap can be sc ewed on and oil the neck 11.

It is conventional that the screw threads 23 and the screw threads 14 are right handed but, of course, if desired, they can be manufactured left handed.

Upon the inner wall 25 of the sleeve 16 is formed a single screw thread 26, said screw thread being opposite handed to the screw threads 14 and 23.

Upon the outer wall 27 of the cap 17 is formed a corresponding screw thread 28 adapted to engage the thread 26.

When the cap 17 is screwed downwardly upon the neck 11, the threads 23 engage the threads 14 and the cap rotates freely, the wall of the cap entering between the wall of the sleeve 16 and the neck 11 until thread 26 engages thread 28. At this point the cap jams due to the fact that the threads 26 and 28 are opposite to the threads 23 and 14.

Due to the relatively large clearance normally provided in screw threads utilized for medicine or drug bottles, it is possible at this point to hold the cap 17 stationary with one hand and rotate the sleeve in the same direction as the cap was rotating thus causing the thread 26 to be in engagement with thread 28 until the clearance between the threads is taken up whereupon the cap is then totated slightly and in the same direction thus releasing the clearance and this alternate rotation of the cap and sleeve proceeds until the cap is screwed fully onto the neck. Due to the relative coarseness of the threads utilized, very few alternate movements are required to accomplish this result.

At this point, any attempt to remove the cap by unscrewing sarne is jammed because of the difference thread characteristics between the cap and the neck on one hand and the cap and the sleeve on the other hand.

When it is desired to remove the cap legitimately, the sleeve and cap are rotated alternately to take up and release the play between the threads until the cap can be removed freely.

The method used to prevent inadvertent displacement of the cap from the neck relies upon different thread characteristics which, in the case of FIGURE 1, take the in which the threads 28 and 26 on the cap and sleeve respectively are of a finer pitch than the threads on the cap and neck. Here, of course, the bottle cap and sleeve have to be rotated oppositely to take up and release the clearance which permits the cap to be screwed fully onto the bottle neck, but the principle involved is the same, IIQII'IO'.

1y, a difference in thread characteristics between the component parts.

Sin-cevarious modifications can be made to the invention herein described within the scope of the inventive concept disclosed, it is not intended that protection of the said invention should be interpreted as restricted to the modification or modifications or known parts of such concept as have been particularly described, defined, or exemplified, since this disclosure is intended to explain the construction and operation of such concept, and not for the purposevof limiting protection to any specificernbodiment or details thereof.

What I claim as my invention is:

l. In a bottle having an external screw threaded neck and an annular rim around the base of said neck; a capping assemblyior said neck, said capping assembly including an open ended cylindrical sleeve surrounding said neck in annular spaced relationship therewith and being rotatably secured around said rim by the base of said 4 sleeve, and a cap for said neck, said cap being internally screw-threaded correspondingtothe screw-threading of said neck and engageable with said screw-threading of 7 said neck to seal said bottle, the wall of said cap entering between said sleeve and said neck, a screw-thread on said wall exterior of said cap and a matching screw-thread formed on the interior of the Wall of said sleeve, the screw-threading characteristics of said cap and said neck being different to the characteristics of the screw-threads on the exterior of said cap and the interior wall of said sleeve.

2. The device according to claim 1 in which the screwthreads on the exterior. of said-cap and on the inner wall of said sleeve are oppositely handed to the screw-threads on said neck and the interior wall of said cap.

3. The device according to claim 1 in which the screwthreads on the exterior of said cap and on the inner wall of said sleeve have a finer pitch than the screw-threads on said neck and the inner Wall of said cap.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,908,413 10/1959 ODonnell 2l59 8/1966 Tuuri 2l59 

1. IN A BOTTLE HAVING AN EXTERNAL SCREW THREADED NECK AND AN ANNULAR RIM AROUND THE BASE OF SAID NECK; A CAPPING ASSEMBLY FOR SAID NECK, SAID CAPPING ASSEMBLY INCLUDING AN OPEN ENDED CYLINDRICAL SLEEVE SURROUNDING SAID NECK IN ANNULAR SPACED RELATIONSHIP THEREWITH AND BEING ROTATABLY SECURED AROUND SAID RIM BY THE BASE OF SAID SLEEVE, AND A CAP FOR SAID NECK, SAID CAP BEING INTERNALLY SCREW-THREADED CORRESPONDING TO THE SCREW-THREADING OF SAID NECK AND ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID SCREW-THREADING OF SAID NECK TO SEAL SAID BOTTLE, THE WALL OF SAID CAP ENTERING BETWEEN SAID SLEEVE AND SAID NECK, A SCREW-THREAD ON SAID WALL EXTERIOR OF SAID CAP AND A MATCHING SCREW-THREAD FORMED ON THE INTERIOR OF THE WALL OF SAID SLEEVE, THE SCREW-THREADING CHARACTERISTICS OF SAID CAP AND SAID NECK BEING DIFFERENT TO THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SCREW-THREADS ON THE EXTERIOR OF SAID CAP AND THE INTERIOR WALL OF SAID SLEEVE. 